Outlander filming locations: a 5-day motorhome tour of central Scotland

An Outlander filming-locations tour by motorhome works for one reason most fans miss when they plan it as day trips out of Edinburgh: the locations are spread across central Scotland from Fife to West Lothian to Perthshire, with Glencoe two hours west again. From a motorhome you sleep where you finished the day, start the next morning at the right end of the country for the next location, and don't waste an afternoon on the train back. For a wider, drive-it-yourself overview of the locations, see our Outlander locations by motorhome guide.

This is a five-day, four-night loop from the Atlas Motorhomes depot in Glasgow. It hits the ten locations most fans want to see: Doune Castle (Castle Leoch), Drummond Castle Gardens (the Palace of Versailles), Culross Palace (Geillis Duncan's home in Cranesmuir), Falkland (1940s Inverness), Linlithgow Palace (Wentworth Prison), Blackness Castle (Black Jack Randall's Fort William), Hopetoun House (Duke of Sandringham), Midhope Castle (Lallybroch), Glasgow's George Square and Pollok Country Park, and Glencoe for the opening-credits scenery.

Before you book: the Midhope Castle catch

Midhope Castle (Lallybroch) sits inside the private Hopetoun Estate and is the one stop that needs more than turning up. Access is by visitor permit only, with limited spaces each week, advance booking essential, and access sometimes refused at short notice for filming, farming, or estate events. Book before you confirm the trip dates, not after. The ticket gives you grounds access only (the drive, archway, courtyard, and steps), not the castle interior. Hopetoun House run guided tours of the filming locations on Fridays at 11:30 if you want company and context.

Day 1: Glasgow depot to Crieff (Doune Castle and Drummond Castle Gardens)

About 1 hour 45 minutes of driving, split across two stops. Out of the depot on the M80 to Stirling, then west on the A84 / B824 to Doune.

Doune Castle is Castle Leoch, the seat of Colum MacKenzie in series one. For most fans this is the first stop the trip is built around. Historic Environment Scotland run it; the audio guide has Sam Heughan (Jamie) narrating the Outlander-related sections. Allow ninety minutes inside. The same castle plays the Wedding chapel and a couple of other interiors, so much of what you see on screen was shot in these rooms.

From Doune it's an hour north on the A9 and A822 to Drummond Castle Gardens, about two and a half miles south of Crieff. The gardens stood in for the Palace of Versailles in series two. What looks French and formal on screen is in fact the largest formal garden of its kind in Scotland, with a parterre laid out as a Saltire from above. Open 1 May to 31 October; daily hours shift through the season. Check the gardens' own site close to your dates before you build a day around it. Out of season it's a long drive to a locked gate.

Park-ups: Witches Craig Caravan and Camping Park (Stirling area, A91), Comrie Croft (west of Crieff on the A85).

Day 2: Culross and Falkland

About 1 hour 30 minutes of driving, mostly the A91 / B9097 across Fife.

Culross sits on the north bank of the Forth and plays the village of Cranesmuir in the series, most notably Geillis Duncan's house. The National Trust for Scotland's Culross Palace is the indoor stop here; its small physic garden is the one that doubled for Claire's herb garden at Castle Leoch. Allow an hour and a half for the palace and a wander through the cobbled lanes that mostly look the way they look on screen.

Cross Fife east to Falkland, which was used as 1940s Inverness in the very first episode. The Bruce Fountain on the main square is where Jamie's ghost looks up at Claire's window. The window itself is on the Covenanter Hotel above the fountain (the show called it Mrs Baird's B&B). The village is tight and walkable in an hour; the Falkland Estate behind it has woodland paths if anyone needs a leg-stretch.

Park-ups: Falkland Estate's nearby camping is limited to small units; better to push on to Linwater Caravan Park or a site closer to West Lothian for the night.

Day 3: The West Lothian cluster

This is the dense day. Four locations within ten miles of each other, north and south of the M9 between Linlithgow and South Queensferry. Plan a relaxed start because there's a lot of walking.

Linlithgow Palace opens the day. The roofless royal palace was Wentworth Prison in the series, where Jamie was tortured by Black Jack Randall, and in real life it's the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots. HES-managed; allow a couple of hours.

Blackness Castle is six miles north on the coast of the Forth. Known as the ship that never sailed because of its prow-shaped seaward end, it stood in for Fort William in series one. Black Jack Randall's base, and where Jamie was first imprisoned. Forty-five minutes inside if you don't stop for a coffee.

Hopetoun House, fifteen minutes east, was the Duke of Sandringham's home. Scenes from series one were filmed in the Red Drawing Room. Both house and grounds are open to the public; the grounds alone reward an hour.

Midhope Castle (Lallybroch) is the last stop, three miles west on the Hopetoun Estate. Jamie Fraser's family home from series one onwards. If you booked the permit (you did, didn't you?) you have grounds access and the archway shot every Outlander fan wants on their phone. Half an hour.

Park-ups: Linwater Caravan Park (Newbridge, near Edinburgh airport), Drummohr Holiday Park (Musselburgh, if you'd rather be east of the city).

Day 4: Glasgow on the way north to Glencoe

About 3 hours of driving spread across the day. Out of Edinburgh west on the M8 into Glasgow.

The Glasgow stops are quick. George Square and the City Chambers, in the city centre, are where the 1940s Frank-and-Claire scenes were filmed: the proposal on John Street alongside the Chambers, and the register-office scenes inside. The Victorian statues and the Chambers' façade haven't changed. Half an hour, lunch nearby. Five minutes south by car, Pollok Country Park is where Claire gathered herbs in the 1700s. It's Glasgow's largest park and home to the Burrell Collection; the herb-gathering scenes were filmed in the wooded areas south of the house. Allow an hour for a wander.

From Pollok, north up the A82 along the western shore of Loch Lomond, through the Trossachs, and into Glencoe. About 2 hours 15 minutes' drive end to end. Glencoe is the opening-credits scenery for the series. Sweeping aerials of the Three Sisters, the Buachaille, the long glen pulling away to the west. The A82 lay-bys north of Glencoe village give you the Three Sisters head-on; the Buachaille viewpoint at the head of the glen is signposted off the A82 just before the Kingshouse turn. Settle in at Glencoe for the night.

Park-ups: Invercoe Caravan and Camping Park (Glencoe village), Red Squirrel Campsite (Glencoe, more rustic), Glen Nevis (Fort William, if you've got time to push further).

Day 5: Glencoe and back to the Glasgow depot

About 2 hours 30 minutes' drive back to the depot. Take the morning slow. The road from Glencoe through Glen Etive (signposted off the A82 at the head of the glen) is a long, photogenic single-track worth driving to the bottom and back. Coffee in the Clachaig Inn or the Glencoe Visitor Centre, then south on the A82 along Loch Lomond back to Glasgow.

Return the motorhome at the depot in the early afternoon.

When's the best time to go?

May to September is the natural window. Drummond Castle Gardens is only open Easter to October; the West Lothian and Fife sites are at their best in long daylight. Doune Castle, Linlithgow Palace, Blackness Castle, Culross Palace and Hopetoun House are open year-round in some capacity, but check individual opening hours close to the dates. Glencoe is good all year; the autumn light through October is arguably the most photogenic the glen gets.

Two natural extensions

Add Aberdour Castle and Craigmillar Castle on Day 2 or 3. Aberdour (on the Fife coast) stood in for the Abbey of Sainte Anne de Beaupré where Jamie convalesced; Craigmillar (Edinburgh) was Ardsmuir Prison in series three. Both are HES-managed, both add a half-day.

Push north to the Cairngorms and Clava Cairns if the standing-stones scene matters to you. The Craigh na Dun set itself was built on private land near Kinloch Rannoch and isn't accessible to visitors, but Clava Cairns (near Inverness, the inspiration for the stones) is HES-managed, free, and worth the diversion. Add two days at the end and route home via the A9.

Ready to go?

Book Midhope Castle before anything else. Then pick your dates and the motorhome, and bring your phone charged for the archway shot.